At some time, and hopefully sooner than later, we will be able to return to the workplace in this era of COVID-19. As much as we all would like this to mean getting back to the ‘normal’ we knew and have been longing for, chances are great that ‘normal’ is going to look different when we do return. Be it with our previous position or a new one, it’s fair to presume that the workplace will appear different. Layout of space, the need to continue to distance and wear protective gear will likely be the norm … at least until there is an effective treatment that allows us to be and feel protected.
Yet, and perhaps most importantly, the true difference might well be how demonstrating our sese of loyalty to the job and the organization will appear. What will be expected of us by the company, the boss and/or the co-worker that will have us seen as a valuable and needed contributor to the goals that need to be achieved? The following are actions that merit consideration. By incorporating them into your approach being ‘back at work’ in the office you may well enhance the perceived value you offer.
- Expand the boundaries around what you have or do see as ‘your job’. Most likely the company is employing fewer people and they will count on all to do more with less.
- Be aware of and seek opportunities to cross position or department lines in service of others needing help to carry out their portion of a project or task. Such a need could well be you tomorrow when you will welcome and even need the same help.
- Volunteer to be considered for anything that needs to happen anywhere within the organization. Your flexibility is both needed and will be seen in the most positive manner.
- Find out what new learning you can do that will increase your value to the company … then do it. Whether it means taking an on-line
course or shadowing others in the organization, your openness to enhancing your knowledge will correspond with enhancing your value.
- Seek ways to accomplish your work within a shorter time frame. Fewer people require greater efficiencies to produce the needed workload.
Minimize the need for and length of meetings. Getting, giving and understanding clear directions at the beginning will enable faster movement to the goal with less check-in to get the ‘next step’. - When a part of a department or team, help to get all on board with the new efficiency and play rules. You, alone, working more expeditiously, isn’t good enough unless all on whom the work relies are of the same understanding and intent.
- Simply structured teams of co-workers or within departments increases the speed and efficiency of needed communication. This will be mandatory in this new normal.
- To your employer or boss, be flexible in setting your personal guidelines as to what you will and won’t do. You may need
flexibility from these same people to carry out the changes that have taken place creating new family needs. Seek opportunities to give this same consideration back when you can.
It is fair to assume that in going to our jobs regardless of it being the old one or something new, is going to require greater efficiency. This need was brought by COVID-19 and the recovery that it is going to take. Thus, there is the need from those working in the organization to demonstrate a level of willingness, flexibility and determination that surviving and thriving in a new normal will require. For certain, in many ways … both professionally and personally … the world we knew has been turned upside down.
Hopefully, we can all come to see this as an opportunity to learn and hone new skills. We can become creative in how we might approach our jobs that will enable more to be accomplished with less or fewer. Changing one’s attitude to coincide with the new demands of the workplace will enable us to be successful enhancing our real and perceived value. Now what’s the negative in that?
Mike Dorman
The idea of expecting employees to work a nine to five workday is just unsuited to the demands of the workforce that will emerge from the COVID era. Flexibility in allowing the employee to accomplish their best work while meeting individual needs can be a positive motivation to team members. To the extent the leaders themselves demonstrate such a model enables this to become a part of the company culture.
Being able and willing to trust employees to do what they are expected to do is a key element of establishing a
successful environment in this new work world. And in order to reinforce the loyalty that is needed for success, the employee will need to feel this. Understanding and support must go in both directions which requires good listening and empathy of and for all.
pandemic in general, and mask-wearing in particular, has become so politicized, it’s hard to not have opinions about what one sees—one way or the other.Whether or not you wear a mask doesn’t only have a direct medical effect on those around you in terms of potential viral spread, but it also has a social effect when it influences what others will do. If someone sees lots of people wearing masks, they are more likely to also do it. If they see few people wearing masks, they are less likely. Some of this may be related to not wanting to stand out. But also, because masks are so visible, it’s an informal survey of how others feel, which consciously and unconsciously influences our own opinions on the matter.
else is doing something and seemingly unharmed, then it’s probably OK to do it. Overall, this tends to work, but not for risks that take time to show their negative consequences (e.
Because there are so many different things that can take us down this road the question becomes what we can do about it? Just like the roller coaster, this kind of ride becomes uneven, distracting, definitely unproductive and, ultimately, just boring as in here I go again. The good news is once we acknowledge this is an issue for us at any given time, we can definitely do things that minimize this unwanted ride and help us to maintain motivation, enthusiasm and drive we want and need to reach the goals that we have set for ourselves.
only get better results but your self-respect, self-image and personal motivation skyrockets. This commitment to excellence must be adhered to regardless of the mediocrity of the people around you. You are choosing to be outstanding no matter what.
ourselves as the latter creates a conflicting self-image when we experience some failure in the course of daily work. Viewing ourselves as ‘unstoppable’ allows us to remain positive and effective even when we experience real and inevitable obstacles that intercede in our daily lives. It’s worth a try. Write the word ‘Unstoppable’ on a Post It note and put it where you can see it every day, so that it remains in your conscious mind.
‘grab’ something at their desk rather than seeing it as a necessary break that serves to reinvigorate them so that their afternoon is as productive as the morning. It has little to do with how much you eat … or even if you eat. Rather it’s a recharge that serves to be anything but a luxury.
as diligent at operating in a different venue brings the benefit of recharge and regeneration that can actually make the work effort easier and more rewarding.
The bottom line here is that it would be extremely difficult to find anyone we encounter who won’t agree with being ‘over’ this. And this is where we run headlong into the problem. As we realize we’re done with this and move to take back the life we want to live, we individually resume doing the things that serve to prolong this sad situation. And yet, if you have spent any time studying our country’s map and how each state is doing you must notice that after 6-7 months, we do not seem to have flattened any national curve. In fact, it is rising, and we have been warned to expect even more as we move beyond summer.
